We've already discussed that multimedia is a step worth taking, for the benefit of the teachers AND the students. However, it's now been brought to my attention that the hesitation in the conversion of multimedia, isn't the idea, its the practice. Multimedia can be difficult in some respects and time consuming in others, two things a teacher in Rhondda Cynon Taff are not interested in. So how can we spin this and make teachers in RCT want to use multimedia when there's no interest in taking the "large step for mankind" into this world.
The best way I can come up with, from the top of my head is to stress how easy some aspects of multimedia are, and I know what your thinking, it's all very well me saying this when I'm technically orientated anyway, but with the correct guidance it could be easy for everyone. Okay, learning certain multimedia programs can be like learning a new language altogether but where there's a difficult option, the world introduces a more user-friendly option and allows the same work to be carried out in a much easier way.
Take Flash for instance, to make a quiz in flash takes a huge amount of technical knowledge, to use ActionScript and components and it's all very complex, however, in Captivate, creating a quiz is as simple as choosing "insert quiz" from the menu and then typing the question and answers into the correct boxes.
What I'm really trying to say here is that, although conversion to multimedia is a huge push, it doesn't take a huge effort to do this. Especially with organisations such as our department at the University of Glamorgan (C.E.L.T) out there trying to cushion the fall for even the least technically minded teacher. We are here to help, we really are. I mean, we're not saying "everything should be Multimedia Now or Else", we're saying "we'll help you make the transition slowly and build the knowledge to advance on that transition in a smooth and easy way"
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4 comments:
For people who are familiar with the technology the ideas on your blog are quite easy to follow. But the issue I have at school is in trying to explain technical issues to adults who do not necessarily want to understand but have to use the equipment - in the Industrial Revolution you could have called these people Luddites!
I think this is a hearts and minds issue as much as anything else and
that while we need to spend some time telling people how wonderful it
all is we must stress how easy it is and how beneficial at the same
time so that the buy-in and time investment is made by them. The real key is accessibility, some of the terminology you've used may need
expanding upon even the basic stuff like VLE and multimedia - I could
name several colleagues who don't get either term, and they're not all
over 40 either!
Perhaps you could spin this to demonstrate the whole point? Hyperlink the terminologies to a site / resources that explain what they are by using the very thing they're defining. Then at the end of each presentation / explanation have a little "this is how I made..." that shows what you did without being too scarey!
I agree Zug. To many who are familiar with technology using multi-media, these ideas are pretty straightforward. However, I'm not sure that creating good, pedagogically sound multi-media is in fact, 'easy' and while there are plenty of tools out there which do help considerably, it's still time consuming and even people who are comfortable with using software such as Flash to create multi-media , often do so without thinking of the benefit to learners. I've seen far too many examples of Flash being used to animate a bulleted list;-). The hearts and minds issues is important, but is it also about blurring some boundaries between teachers and learners? Why not get your pupils to create learning activities using multi-media? They'll be likely to enjoy it more, and engage in deeper learning in the process. Most of them will be used to creating videos and other media on MySpace, YouTube etc anyway!
Guilty as charged - well not the animated bullet point thing but certainly the nice-looking Flash "because I can" presentation :o)
Sure within ICT lessons (or wherever there is access) get the pupils to do stuff. We've had success with Flash in year 8 and web page publishing in year 7 - the kids get it far sooner than the adults. In fact the kids aren't the issue here.
The thing is for this to be 2nd nature to teachers, as ubiquitous as the technology demands and to get the pedagogically sound resources across the board then it has to be accessible to people outside of ICT. It needs to be thought of as something as easy to use as a mobile phone and as useful. I think the education of adults is the elephant in the room when it comes to the new technologies.
That doesn't mean it's impossible though! Just needs some thought.
Or even getting pupils to use their mobile phones for learning :-0
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